


Absence of Light

by TwinAce



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst, Character Death, Gen, OCs - Freeform, in which jacob is a hero, like usual, this is like ten levels of au of my own stuff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-06
Updated: 2017-09-06
Packaged: 2018-12-24 11:48:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12012090
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TwinAce/pseuds/TwinAce
Summary: Kai and Salem receive the news that their brother has been made a hero, but not in the way they ever thought he would.





	Absence of Light

When the news came back to Kai and Salem that Jacob was killed, neither of them knew how to react in any way beyond total shock at first. 

It was supposed to be a simple job. The small team of military personnel had been in need of someone with Jacob’s skills and magic, and he had jumped at the chance almost immediately. They were to infiltrate a high security enemy base in an undisclosed location and gather as much information as they could in the time it took for the head of the enemy base to meet with the head of the rebel army. The information gathered would be the turning point to war and would save the lives of millions. He had been so thrilled at the thought of being able to help that no amount of caution or warnings from either of his siblings could have stopped him, though they did try. 

What no one counted on was the fact that the enemy base had backup plans prepared in case a situation like this arose. 

Kai numbly looked at the report that had been hand delivered with Jacob’s watch by the young officer. According to the papers, the team had arrived on site at the precise moment they were supposed to. Everything had gone off without a hitch, Jacob was able to download every last bit of information that was stored in the systems, and the team was getting ready to leave the island as quickly and silently as they came in. The second Jacob stepped back outside the door however, the alarm system had kicked on, alerting everyone within a mile radius to their presence. They had all made a run for it, effectively taking out anyone in their path. Just before they were able to reach the helicopter that had brought them in, the entire base was surrounded by a shield, allowing no one to come in or out. They very quickly realized that the base was set to self destruct, killing everyone on the entire island and effectively wiping all the information from existence. 

As the team started saying their goodbyes to each other, Jacob had run to the electrical box nearby. He told them all that he would be able to lift the shields and stop the self destruct sequence, but they had to run for the copter right away. The leader of the mission argued, telling him that he would be caught and killed immediately. He had looked her straight in the eye, tossed the flash drive that contained the information and his watch, and told her that if he didn’t do this, then not only would every innocent life on this island die, but the information would never make it out and millions more would continue to be senselessly slaughtered. He then put his hands on the box and lifted the shields, leaving the rest of them no choice but to run. 

As the helicopter left, the team watch him smile and wave at them before turning towards the incoming soldiers. Their last view was of him falling to the ground as several guns fired and he was able to let off one final explosion of energy that took out any weapons that would have fired at the helicopter. 

“Your brother’s actions saved the lives of millions of people. He will be regarded as a hero for all of eternity.” The officer had informed Kai as they stared in complete disbelief at the watch. “His funeral will be completely covered and you two will receive lifelong benefits for his service.” She said, gesturing to both them and Salem, who hadn’t moved from xir’s spot on the stairs. She had saluted to the two of them, then turned and walked back out to the car, leaving the siblings to try and process what they had just been told. 

Kai glanced over at Salem. Xe hadn’t moved much since the officer left, only got up once to make sure Kai didn’t fall over and helped them to the couch and got them water, then had flopped back onto the stairs. They knew that Salem was trying to hold xirself together and be strong for them because that’s just how xe was. They also knew that xe was blaming xirself for Jacob’s death, just as they were. Both knew it was ridiculous, neither of them could have predicted what would have happened, but if only they had tried a little harder to convince him to stay...

They stood up, stretching a little, and walked over to sit by Salem on the stairs. Xe glanced up at them as they sat, then returned to staring at the spot on the wall. Kai hesitated for a moment, then gently wrapped their arms around xir. Salem tensed for half a second before melting into the hug, turning to bury xir’s face in Kai’s shoulder. They brought one hand up to gently pet xir’s hair, squeezing xir a little closer and mumbling “It’s okay. You’re safe here, you don’t have to keep bottling it up, you can cry.” They felt Salem shudder a bit and wrap xirs arms around them tightly. 

“He...he’s really gone, isn’t he?” Xe rasped out. Kai was only able to tighten their hold on xir even more in response, as though they were afraid of losing xir as well. The two sat there in silence, hugging each other and mourning in their own ways. 

They both knew that life would never return to how it used to be without the light that Jacob brought to the house.

**Author's Note:**

> Salem belongs to Quinn, who you can find at inkjarandquinn.tumblr.com and I highly recommend you go ask them about xem.
> 
> I realize that this might not make much sense unless you know my ocs, but if you have questions, you can always come ask me about them on my tumblr, twin-ace.


End file.
